A 21-year-old pregnant woman who disappeared after leaving home to collect baby gifts has been found dead, while her unborn child remains missing in a case that has shocked Colombia.
María Camila Potosí, who was eight months pregnant, was reported missing on July 16 after she was last seen riding on the back of a motorcycle with another woman in the Los Polvorines area of Cali. CCTV footage reportedly captured her final known movements before she vanished.
After several days of searches by police and relatives, authorities discovered her body near the banks of the Meléndez River along La Buitrera Road. Investigators said she had suffered fatal stab wounds and that her unborn baby had been removed from her womb.
According to local reports, María had planned to name her daughter Alahia, who was expected to be born in August. Family members had even organised a baby shower just days before the tragedy.
Confirming the discovery, Cali Police deputy head of criminal investigations, Major Alirio Acuna, said the victim’s clothing and physical features matched those of the young woman who had been reported missing.
“The body of a pregnant woman was found at kilometre three on La Buitrera Road, on the banks of the Meléndez River. Preliminary findings indicate that the clothing and physical characteristics correspond to the 21-year-old woman reported missing,” he said.
Investigators revealed that María had attended a routine prenatal appointment at the Los Polvorines Health Centre on the morning she disappeared.
Diana Carolina, manager of the Ladera Health Network, said María arrived at about 9 a.m. for a standard medical check-up and entered the consultation room alone before leaving the facility.
Family members later said María received a phone call from a woman she had recently met at a support centre for expectant mothers. She reportedly told relatives she was going with the woman to collect gifts for her unborn baby before getting on the motorcycle.
The woman who accompanied María has not been publicly identified, and authorities continue to investigate her role in the case.
María’s mother, Ana Rubi Gomez, has appealed for help in finding her missing granddaughter, saying she was devastated to learn the baby was no longer in her daughter’s womb.
“The first thing I asked was whether the baby was still in her womb, and they told me she wasn’t. That gave me hope that my granddaughter could still be alive. I ask everyone to help us find her,” she said.
In a separate development, a man identified as Carlos Rincón released a video on social media describing himself as the former partner of the woman believed to have been riding the motorcycle.
He said his ex-partner had told him earlier this year that she was pregnant and denied any involvement by himself or his family in the disappearance and killing.
“We had nothing to do with this. We knew nothing. My family has also been affected because we trusted her,” he said.
Following the discovery, the Cali Ombudsman’s Office called for a thorough investigation into the killing and urged authorities to intensify efforts to locate the missing baby.
Officials said the autopsy findings, which confirmed the unborn child had been removed, make it even more urgent to determine what happened and establish whether the infant is still alive.
Authorities have also appealed to members of the public to share any information that could assist investigators, stressing that every moment is crucial in the search for the missing child.
Source: Daily Star
